Meeting Minutes
USATF Board of Directors
Conference Call
April 21, 2010
ATTENDANCE/QUORUM
Stephanie Hightower, Jack Wickens, Ken Taylor, Philip Dunn, Kim Haines, Evie
Dennis, Bob Hersh, Elizabeth Phillips, Jeff Darman, Aretha Hill Thurmond, Willie
Banks, Max Siegel, Steve Holman, Larry James (non-voting Counsel), Darlene
Hickman (non-voting Secretary)
Office Staff: Doug Logan, Mike McNees, Lamont Jones, Benita Fitzgerald
Mosley, Jill Geer, Gina Miller, Shayna Sangster
Quorum was present. Stephanie Hightower opened the meeting at 4:04pm (EST).
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Each of the Ethics Committee appointees has accepted his or her appointment.
Jon Drummond will submit an athlete nominee to President Hightower. Larry
James, Lamont Jones and Stephanie Hightower will meet to outline the roles and
responsibilities of the committee members.
Doug Logan, Darlene Hickman and USATF Director of Events Brian Brase will
have a call with Hightower regarding the Annual Meeting. A task force is being
formed to develop a plan and review the revised schedule. Brase has worked to
get input from the committee chairs and a report will be available in June.
There will be a trial schedule presented by the end of April.
Jack Wickens and Willie Banks attended the Disabled Athlete Conference in
Washington D.C. They discussed the goals of the organization and how they can
integrate with USATF. The primary advocates for the Disabled Athletes Program
are creating a proposal that will be reviewed by Wickens, Banks and a designated
staff member from the national office.
The next in-person Board meeting is scheduled for Saturday, June 26th in
conjunction with the Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Next month Hightower will meet with Wickens, Miller and Siegel to have a
Board engagement strategy session. She would like everyone on the Board to be
fully engaged and have each member working in an area where his or her strengths
can be utilized. Logan and McNees will be conferenced in to see how the Board
can work more intimately with programs within the national office.
Former USATF President, Pat Rico has been extremely ill. Bob Hersh reported
that Rico has been in a medically induced coma for the past month.
FINANCE REPORT
Prior to the meeting, an expense policy was sent out for review by the
Board. Hightower requested that the finance committee review the document then
resend it to the Board for the May meeting.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Audit Committee
Auditors have been at the national office this week. The Audit Committee will
meet in Indianapolis on May 22nd to conclude the 2009 audit.
Competitions Committee
The competitions Committee has a conference call scheduled for Monday, April
26th. There have been some staffing issues with the Youth Olympics Games
Committee. The international selection committee chose the staff for the
Games. The World Junior Men’s Head Coach stepped down and Ed Gorman has
been nominated to replace him.
Business Development Committee
The Business Development Committee has been meeting once a month and is starting
to gain clarity on realities and opportunities around sponsorship expansion and
TV strategies. They are in the idea generating stage.
CEO REPORT
Logan reported that within the last 30 days Nike has exercised the option to
extend the contract to 2016. USATF management was anticipating this
happening, but the announcement came earlier than expected.
In March, Logan attended the World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar and the
World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. The team won 17
medals in Doha, which is one of the highest medal counts in history. The
Women’s team won bronze in Poland and was the only non-African team to medal.
The USOC has officially broken off conversations with Comcast for an Olympic
network. This has very little impact on USATF, but the Board should be
aware that after four years and a significant amount of investment, the USOC has
decided to abort negotiations.
There are three primary ways which an association can fail to meet the
obligations imposed by the bylaws. The first is failure to submit a 990 to the
IRS. There are four associations that have not submitted a 2008 form 990
(Colorado, Metropolitan, Three Rivers &Wyoming). Wyoming is currently
suspended; Metropolitan has a provisional accreditation, while Colorado and
Three Rivers are fully accredited.
The second involves budget deficits on the 990 filings. Adirondack had a
deficit in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Metropolitan has had a deficit in its last
three filings. The third category involves failure to update bylaws to comply
with USATF regulations. Both West Texas and Wyoming have had their voting
rights suspended for not complying with the mandate.
The Organizational Services Committee is in charge of monitoring the
Associations compliance with the bylaws. Logan will submit a letter to Ed
Koch, Chair of the committee, to encourage him to act throughout the year on
different association delinquency issues.
There was a recent article in the New York Times regarding the issue at USA
Swimming. Swimming is undergoing upheaval over several coaches who have
been accused, indicted or convicted of sexual assault. The Swimming Board
of Directors issued a seven point plan to deal with the issue. Logan will
send a memo to Hightower and to the appropriate Board committees to evaluate
what we should be doing regarding our Coaching Education program. Logan
will also send a memo to the entire Board explaining the current procedures
USATF has in place regarding background checks. The USOC will form a panel
to address this issue and Logan has expressed his interest in participating.
Logan thanked Max Siegel for coming to the national office in Indianapolis and
speaking to the staff regarding his new book entitled, "Know What Makes Them
Tick: How to Negotiate Almost Any Situation". The staff enjoyed the
experience and Logan extended an invitation to all Board members to stop by the
office when traveling in the Indianapolis area.
The Trials contract with the Houston Marathon is almost complete. There
are some procedural issues that need to be tied up, but the final contract
should be executed soon.
Mike McNees discussed the Excellence Challenge Grants. The criteria and
process of selection has been posted on the website, and a press release has
been sent out including this information. The deadline for application is
May 15th and the announcement date is June 28th. Everyone needs to
understand that this is a one time grant. Applicants will need to sustain
funds for long term projects. The staff will review the applications then
forward them on to the Competitions and Operations Committee for review.
There is a contract in place to webcast the 12 events in the USA Running
Circuit.
NEW BUSINESS
President Hightower circulated an email from AAC Chair, Jon Drummond that
contained a grievance against Doug Logan and the USATF administration. The
grievance was discussed amongst the Board and Aretha Thurmond, Philip Dunn and
Willie Banks formed a committee to speak with Drummond about the grievance.
Meeting adjourned at 5:37pm (EST).